Frederick Buechner’s Godric uses a variety of characters, both medieval and contemporary, to convey his views on what it is to be holy. Buechner brought Saint Godric to life by selecting him as the subject. He was able to bring alive an unsolved mystery and the fascinating story of a flawed holy person. Buechner created characters with empathetic language in both medieval and modern languages. In the novel, Buechner uses poetic and philosophical language to criticize the period.
Buechner’s earliest example is in Godric Aedlwards relationships. Godric’s name is the first thing that readers learn about his father. The more it’s a pity that he didn’t tell anyone. “I pity Aedlward” (Buechner 9), Buechner uses these lines to show the reader how Aedlward is absent from Godric’s life and Godric has shown signs of resentment towards him. The catholic religion has a rule that says you must honor your parents and mothers. Buechner shows his challenge by having Godric openly express how he feels about his dad. He shows a modern approach by using the idea of a first-born son not having a father in his life. He shows his reader that being a saint can at times be in conflict with our emotions. In medieval Europe the law of primogeniture was widely practiced by all families, including Godrics. Godric is Buechner’s semi-fictionalized account of a real life. Aedlward could be a loosely based on Buechner himself. Buechnner was not only the eldest child, but also, according to Frederick Buecher : Novelist/Theologian Of The Lost And Found by Marjorie and Charles McCoy “Buechner’s Characters and Plots Are Drenched In Tears”. For example, there is his father’s suicide. It is clear that Buechner’s feelings of abandonment by his father are reflected in this. Godric also admits “that Aedlward was kept away from us because he was afraid, and that his greatest fear, after God, was that he would starve to death.” He had good cause” (Buechner 10). Buechner grew up in a family that moved often because of his father’s job search. Buechner s father, who felt he was a failure, committed suicide with carbon monoxide in 1936. Buechner portrayed Godric in a way that was both medieval and modern by showing him respecting his father. Godric understood, that even though he would have liked to see his dad more, he worried about the family’s well-being and spent most of his day working. Elric, a character from a medieval novel that is also modern in its approach to holiness, is a good example of this. Elric, just like Godric was a hermit punishing his body for Christ’s sake or to make amends for his past crimes. He is beset with voices and demons. It seems that he believes the devil constantly tempts him. Elric is differentiated from Godric because he does not see visions like those of Mary, Angels or Christ. Buechner’s Elric shows that faith always runs the danger of being taken too seriously. In sermons or religious writing, we can focus on an ideal of God and forget about our humanity. Buechner illustrates that being holy does not mean you have to worry about sin and the devil. Elric, through his constant visions of demons and death, shows that he’s not ready to accept death. As Elric trembles at his deathbed, he says “I worry in Paradise…I might miss the fiends.” Elric chose to be plagued by his mistakes, demons and memories instead of embracing the gifts that life has to offer. In the Medieval Resource “Reginald Durham, Live of St.Godric”, it is noted that Godric was a saint who visited shrines to which he would not most devoutly recommend himself. This included the Church of St.Andrew where he frequently paid his vows. “He began to long for solitude, as well as to regard his merchandise with less respect than before”. Godric chose a godly, though sometimes troubled, life by visiting holy locations, unlike Elric.
Elric tells Godric in the first episode of the nineteenth season that “My head is a church.” Yours is also. Like godly people, the thoughts come and go. What about hands that itch for gold? What about feet which ache to walk down the paths of soft leaves to Hell or the unrepentant heart which hungers for love of the flesh of the mortals? Buechner says this in a medieval voice, but it is a universal statement that anyone who believes in morality can understand. Godric realized that life’s temptations and desires are never far away. With Elric’s death, Godric understood the importance of not only worrying about demons. Buechner uses a medieval hermit as a modern person to demonstrate how being holy is not only about praise. It’s also important to note that it doesn’t take religion to understand that forbidden desires can cause “itching”, “burning” and “truant hearts”.
Godric’s relationship with Burcwen was also an example of forbidden desires. Godric’s relationship between him and his sister Burcwen creates tension in the book. Buechner uses this tension to create character relationships which make the reader eagerly turn the page, anticipating Godric-Burcwen’s consummation of their feelings. Buechner used incest to create a grotesque picture that would challenge readers’ assumptions about love. Buechner uses this unconventional relationship to question readers’ beliefs and love traditions, even though incest, as Buechner describes it, is a crime. Godric says that the worst thing Godric has ever done was out of love. In stating that “Love is not earthy and selfish but rather love that sacrifices itself for its beloved” (Buechner 150), Godric reveals his true feelings. He also suggests that it goes beyond moral and social standards. Godric’s extravagant love for Burcwen inspires sympathy and makes readers question their established conventions. The relationship between Godric and Burcwen is a constant theme throughout the novel. It is also a major reason for both Burcwen’s and Godric’s brother’s deaths. Burcwen also declares that she will hang herself if Godric doesn’t leave. They will bury me with a heart-stake at the crossing (Buechner 26). This is to show how love, regardless of whom it is, can alter someone’s mind and make them do absurd things. Buechner has created modern theories with medieval characters. Buechner would have been surprised to learn that the belief in love’s power to transcend religion and law is still a modern concept.
Godric is Buechner’s most striking example of Buechner combining a modern and medieval character with a holy meaning. Godric, at the conclusion of the 23rd epsiode, says “How pointless is my existence.” My flesh falls prey to lusts, prides and sloths. Godric has a self-deprecating irony when Reginald insists on calling him a saint. Godric demonstrates that he cannot admit to himself that he did some good. He is a delegate of holyness despite his own pride. Buechner saw that Godric, throughout the novel, is seeking spiritual acceptance and blessings. It’s hard to imagine how God or anyone could choose someone so flawed and sinful to be a saint or an example. The reader can be comforted by Godric’s theft, lying, incestuousness, and pride because Godric is a sinful person. Buechner again gives Godric modern and Medieval character by allowing him to commit sins from any time. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins and it’s the most common. Sabine Baring Goulds’ “Lives of Saints”, gives the reader the opportunity to observe the effects of pride. Baring Goulds claims that Godric “watched, fasted and spat upon himself” and always wore hair shirts and iron cuirasses. He sat day and night in the cold Wear even during the middle of winter.
Godric’s ego kept him from telling William the truth about Burcwen. Godric’s lies caused his younger brother to die. Pride has been a sin committed by many throughout history, including in the modern era. Godric”s lie allows the reader to empathize with Godric and his desire to change his past. A common theme in the novel is that a grave error can’t be reversed or changed. Godric’s grief over his mistakes is expressed in the episodes with Peregrine, Finchale, his wife and William. Godric’s self-loathing is evident throughout the entire novel. The reader can’t understand it. The reader does not understand why Buechner made the novel a kind of puzzle, where each episode is a piece.
Cited Sources
Reginald Durham. Coulton’s G.G., “Life of St.Godric”. The social life of Britain between the Conquest and the Reformation. “Medieval Sourcebook. : fordam.edu/halsall/source/godrick.STEB 2003
Baring-Gould, Sabine. The lives and saints. John Grant published a book in Edinburgh in 1914. Print.
McCoys: Marjorie McCoy and Charles McCoy Frederick Buechner. Novelist/Theologian. Harper and Row published a book in San Francisco in 1988. Print.
Buechner, Frederick. Godric:. San Francisco: Harper, 1990. Print.
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